INSIDE THE NUMBERS
After amassing 700 yards and a whopping 10 touchdowns on 58 receptions in 2010, Marcedes Lewis turned out to be a huge fantasy bust a year ago. Not only did he catch 19 less balls for 460 yards, the Jaguars tight end failed to find the end zone in 2011. Part of the problem can be pinned on the Jaguars’ woes at quarterback, but Lewis simply was not a factor with just two games over 50 yards receiving. The arrival of Mike Mularkey and a new system should help, but more consistency at QB will be the deciding factor on his fantasy value.

SCHEDULE
The Vikings and Colts in their first five games should help make for some decent early numbers, but three tough defenses like the Texans, Bengals, and Bears also before the bye will test the team’s offensive line.  Their non-conference matchups against the NFC North teams, arguably football’s best division top to bottom, aren’t going to provide much relief. The good news for the fantasy playoffs is all three of their games are in the state of Florida, so there will be no wintery elements to deal with.

STUD
Maurice Jones-Drew led all NFL rushers in both yards (1,606) and carries (343) a year ago on his way to finishing as top five fantasy running back. Despite the workload, Jones-Drew has proven to be extremely durable. Through his seven-year career he’s managed to play in at least 14 games each season. The team’s improved weapons in the passing game should help keep defenses a bit more honest and allow MJD the ability to once again be productive. Assuming his holdout doesn’t drag on too long, Jones-Drew should continue to be viewed as a first-round RB.

DUD
Despite being the Jaguars’ leading receiver a year ago, Mike Thomas finds himself buried on the team’s depth chart and a total off-season remake of their wide receiver corps. At best he’ll be the team’s third receiver and after only garnering 44 receptions for 415 yards and just one touchdown as the team’s No. 1 receiving option, he won’t bring much value to the table.  Barring injury, owners should avoid Thomas altogether entering 2012.

SLEEPER
There’s never been a question surrounding the talent of rookie wide receiver Justin Blackmon. His fantasy potential hit a minor hurdle when he landed in Jacksonville with 5th overall pick in April’s draft. It wasn’t a good sign when he was arrested for a second DUI in June. However, that coupled with his brief holdout and the Jaguars’ weak passing attack has his ADP at 96.03 as the 34th overall receiver going off the board. It comes with risk, but a mid-round stab at the talented rookie could pay big dividends.

NEW ADDITIONS
Desperately seeking to breathe some life into their anemic passing game, the Jaguars signed free agents Laurent Robinson and Lee Evans this offseason. Robinson parlayed a career in Dallas into a 5-year, $32 million deal and will be counted on to produce. He caught 54 balls for 854 yards and 11 touchdowns for Dallas a year ago. At 31, Evans is coming off back-to-back injury riddled seasons and has appears to have lost a step. A reunion with Mularkey, the coach that drafted him will help, but it may not be enough. Robinson is a WR4 at best in deeper formats and owners should take a wait-and-see approach with Evans.

POSITION BATTLE
Second-year quarterback Blaine Gabbert has started training camp as the team’s starter, but veteran Chad Henne was brought in to give the team an option if the young passer’s development staggers.  Gabbert’s rookie campaign was awful as he completed 50.8 percent of his passes for 2,214 yards and 12 TD’s, but he was picked off 11 times and fumbled a league-high 14. The team is holding out hope that Gabbert was another bust, but don’t hold your breath. Henne will be starting at some point and his presence will upgrade the value of everyone in the passing game.

BENCH BUILDER
While Rashad Jennings is a natural handcuff for MJD owners, he could provide nice depth for any fantasy team. Even if Jones-Drew is doing his thing, the team is expected to reduce his workload which will lead to more opportunities for Jennings to do some damage. In PPR leagues his value is slightly higher. Look for him to be a RB4 in deeper leagues and a RB5 option in any format. If Jones-Drew is out of the mix he could become a potential weekly starting option.

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Despite speculation to the contrary, Mick Cronin will return as the head basketball at the University of Cincinnati next season.

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Bill Koch wrote on his blog Friday that the athletic director Mike Thomas confirmed to him by phone that Cronin will be back next year.

“I’m an impatient person and I know the Bearcat Nation is impatient, but I think the needle is headed in the right direction,” Thomas told the paper.

Cronin, who has four years on his contract, is nearing the end of his fourth season as the team’s coach. The Bearcats have gone 56-63 in that span, including just a 25-33 mark inside the Big East, and have not made the NCAA Tournament during his tenure.

The reality of the situation is that the program simply does not have the money to buy him out and/or attract a big name coach. Needless to say, the pressure is mounting on Cronin. While he did get handed an empty closet, he’s had time to put his stamp on the program, but the team has yet to get over the hump.

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press release from University of Cincinnati:

University of Cincinnati Director of Athletics Mike Thomas has announced a two-year contract extension for head men's basketball coach Mick Cronin, pending University of Cincinnati Board of Trustee approval. This is the first extension for Cronin, who was hired on March 23, 2006 to a six-year contract.

"Under Coach Cronin's leadership the past three years the men's basketball program has improved on the court and in the classroom," said Director of Athletics Mike Thomas. "I look forward to the continued development of the program to once again attain national prominence and compete for BIG EAST championships on an annual basis."

Cincinnati is coming off its first winning season under Cronin as the Bearcats posted an 18-14 record and finished tied for ninth in the BIG EAST. Junior guard Deonta Vaughn, who averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 assists per game, became the first UC basketball player to earn back-to-back all-BIG EAST honors as he was selected third team all-league by the coaches. Freshman Yancy Gates was named to the 2008-09 BIG EAST All-Rookie team, becoming the second player under Cronin to earn the honor in the last three years. Gates led the Bearcats in rebounding with 6.1 per contest and was second on the squad in scoring averaging 10.6 points.

Since Cronin took over the program in 2006-07, the Bearcats have shown improvement each year, progressing from 11 wins in his first season to 13 in 2007-08 to 18 this past season. This coming year, Cronin will have his most experienced team at UC as all but one regular from last year's squad returns and he adds four newcomers, including freshman point guard Cashmere Wright, who was considered one of the nation's Top 100 recruits in high school.

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On the verge of its first BCS bowl berth, the University of Cincinnati and its fan base received good news on Tuesday when head coach Brian Kelly stated that he is staying at UC.  This announcement comes in the midst of his name being attached to several different coaching vacancies.

"I’m here to tell you, that I’m committed to the University of Cincinnati," Kelly said.

Athletic Director Mike Thomas took the podium prior to the coach, signifying something significant was about to happen.

"All I can say is, with all the speculation and the jobs that are out there, sometime or later, no means no," Kelly said. "No one ever speaks in terms of forever and forever. There’s been a lot of interest in my services, but I want to be here at the University of Cincinnati for the right reasons." 

C. Trent Rosecrans of the TheLotD.com reports that Thomas and Kelly met this morning, along with University President Nancy Zimpher and Jeff Wyler.  Rosecrans reports that there were three parts of that meeting:

1. practice facilities and indoor facilities -- those are on track, he said.

2. 'operation pieces' -- "There’s a laundry list of those things and they’re going to happen." Basically a bigger budget.

3. The expansion of Nippert Stadium, including more seats, luxury boxes and infrastructure such as restrooms and concession stands.

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